133 - What made you give me the stone

A wise man who was travelling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day he met another traveller who was hungry, and the wise man opened his bag to share his food. The hungry traveller saw the precious stone and asked the man to give it to him. He did so without hesitation. The traveller left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.

But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise man.

"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."

source: Stories from Here and There, Ekalavya Education Foundation - By: Sunil Handa - http://www.eklavya.org/storyhere.html